Japan's Seven & i Rejects Couche-Tard's $38.5-B Takeover Offer

Japanese retail giant Seven & i Holdings has announced that it had rejected Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard's $38.5 billion cash bid.

Circle-K owner Couche-Tard reportedly offered to buy out Seven & i for $14.86 per share. I Photo: Couche-Tard

The former dismissed what would have been the largest-ever foreign buyout of a Japanese company, Mariko Katsumura, Scott Murdoch, Kane Wu, and Rocky Swift reported for Reuters.

Seven & i, operator of 7-Eleven, stated that the takeover proposal was not in the best interest of shareholders and could face significant antitrust hurdles in the U.S., where the combined company would dominate the convenience store industry.

The company, which last month confirmed receiving an offer from Circle-K owner Couche-Tard, revealed that the bid was valued at $14.86 per share.

Seven & i expressed openness to considering future proposals but stressed that they would resist any that failed to address shareholder value and regulatory concerns.

“We do not believe, for several critical reasons, that the proposal you have put forward provides a basis for us to engage in substantive discussions regarding a potential transaction,” said Stephen Dacus, chair of Seven & i’s special committee of independent directors, in a letter addressed to Couche-Tard.